languageskillsiauh912fandomcom-20200214-history
Reading- Sareh Saatian
Reading ' The ability to read in a second language (L2) is considered to be an essential skill for academic students and it represents the primary way for independent language learning (Carrell and Grabe 2002). '''Approaches to learning and teaching reading ' three approaches to language learning described in Usó-Juan and Martínez-Flor namely those of the environmentalist, the innatist and the interactionist approaches '1. Reading within an environmentalist approach ' Up to the end of the 1960s the field of language learning was dominated by environmentalist ideas that avoided speculation about the workings of the human mind and concentrated only on observable facts outside the person.. Environmentalist ideas shaped not just the theoretical conceptions of what reading was but also research (Venezky 2002).. Consequently, the reading methods used to help learners to build fluent decoding relied mainly on the phonic method of teaching reading by sounding-out ''routines or the ''look and-say ''method of whole-word teaching (Bielby 1994). The rationale behind this teaching practice was that mastery in decoding skills had to precede the development of reading comprehension. '''2. Reading within an innatist approach ' Chomsky’s (1957, 1965) theory of language provided the basis for the innatist theory of language learning (see Usó-Juan and Martínez-Flor this volume), which claims that children are born with a predisposition to language acquisition. Goodman (1967) posited that reading was a psycholinguistic guessing game ''in which readers guess or predict the text’s meaning on the basis of textual information and activation of background knowledge, then confirm or correct their guesses, and thereby reconstruct the message. This approach to reading was reinforced by Smith (1971), who stated that reading was not something one was taught but rather something one learned to do by reading. Reading comprehension research began to focus on the reader as a text processor and to move away from the text itself. ' ' '''3. Reading within an interactionist approach ' By the late 1970s researchers were attempting to identify comprehension skills. This significant change, though, grew out of the interactionist approach to language learning (see Usó-Juan and Martínez-Flor this volume) and, particularly, from the work carried out essentially in the disciplines of cognitive psychology and sociolinguistics. Schema theory (Rumelhart 1977, 1980; Anderson and Pearson 1984) arrived on the scene during the latter part of the 1970s and early 1980s to tackle the relationship between the background knowledge that readers bring to the text and text comprehension. It provides directions for readers so that they can construct meaning from their own cognitive structure, that is to say, from their own previously acquired knowledge (Anderson and Pearson 1984). Reading was an interactive ''process; it was a dynamic interaction between the writer and the reader in which the reader creates meaning from the text by activating his stored knowledge and extending it with the new information supplied by the text (Grabe 1988). '''Teaching reading within a communicative competence framework ' Hymes (1971) was the first to point out that what was needed was a characterization of not just how language is structured internally but also an explanation of language behavior for given communicative goals. Therefore, he proposed the notion of communicative competence, ''which included both grammatical competence as well as the rules of language use in social context and the norms of appropriacy. In such a construct, the reading skill plays an essential role in facilitating the acquisition of communicative competence. ' ' 1. Discourse competence Discourse competence involves the knowledge of written discourse features such as markers, cohesion and coherence as well as formal schemata (i.e., knowledge of how different discourse types are organized) with reference to the particular communicative goal and context of the written text. 2. Linguistic competence Linguistic competence consists of the elements of the linguistic system such as grammar rules and knowledge of vocabulary. Moreover, the ability to read also involves the mastery of the mechanics of the language, such as the alphabet and punctuation (Scarcella and Oxford 1992). 3. Pragmatic competence Pragmatic competence involves an understanding of the illocutionary force of an utterance by being aware of situational and participant variables within which the utterance takes place, as well as politeness issues. 4. Intercultural competence Intercultural competence refers to the knowledge of how to interpret written texts appropriately within their sociocultural context. 5. Strategic competence This competence refers to the possession of both communication and learning strategies (Scarcella and Oxford 1992). '''Areas of research that influence L2 reading instruction ' Reading is a complex cognitive activity, almost a miraculous one. Learning to read requires considerable cognitive effort and a long learning process, If a person is not taught to read, in one way or another (e.g., by a teacher, a parent, a sibling), that person will not learn to read (Grabe and Stoller 2002). As a consequence, the teaching of reading is also a complex matter. Obvious variables such as student proficiency, age, L1/L2 relations, motivation, cognitive processing factors, teacher factors, curriculum and materials resources, instructional setting, and institutional factors all impact the degree of success of reading instruction. Reading is not an inherently natural process in the same way that speaking and listening are. In a first language (L1). Unlike our first spoken language, which one might say “comes for free,” nothing is free with respect to reading. Learning to read requires considerable cognitive effort and a long learning process, whether one is learning to read in the L1 or in a second language (L2). If a person is not taught to read, in one way or another (e.g., by a teacher, a parent, a sibling), that person will not learn to read (Grabe and Stoller 2002). 'Implications for reading instruction from reading research ' Although stated as instructional implications, they also represent component abilities of learners that need to be developed for effective reading comprehension. 1. Ensure word recognition fluency 2. Emphasize vocabulary learning and create a vocabulary-rich environment 3. Activate background knowledge in appropriate ways 4. Ensure effective language knowledge and general comprehension skills 5. Teach text structures and discourse organization 6. Promote the strategic reader rather than teach individual strategies 7. Build reading fluency and rate 8. Promote extensive reading 9. Develop intrinsic motivation for reading ' ' 'Developing strategic L2 readers… by reading for authentic purposes ' The term strategies ''is used to describe a variety of different notions in reading and reading instruction (both for L1 and L2), ranging from using it to describe broad ''approaches ''to learning or using the L2; to the specific, automatic reading ''skills ''readers use; and even to various ''techniques ''that teachers can use to help students develop aspects of reading they find difficult. In spite of this variation in usage, there is still fairly broad use of the term ''strategies ''(whether for language ''learning ''or language ''use) to refer to those (often conscious) procedures, actions, techniques, or behaviors that a learner selects and uses in order to enhance their comprehension or their learning from what they read. ' ' 'Reading strategies ' strategies can be categorized into meta-cognitive (including purpose-oriented, comprehension monitoring, and strategies that focus on learning from text), cognitive (including strategies for interacting with the author and the text, strategies involving different ways of reading, strategies for handling unknown words, and those making use of one’s prior knowledge in some way), as well as social and affective strategies, among others. ' ' 'How do good readers use reading strategies? ' - Are primarily focused on the drive to obtain ''meaning ''from a text, not on “using strategies”. - Are aware of their ''purpose ''for reading, ' - Overview a text to decide if it is relevant to their purpose and to identify the portions that might be particularly relevant or helpful (Pressley 2000). - Use strategies in ordered hierarchies that are generated from an analysis of the steps in the process needed to accomplish their task (Pressley and Woloshyn 1995). - Make use of, and integrate their prior knowledge - Know and utilize ''multiple ''strategies - Make particularly effective use of meta-cognitive strategies - Make effective use of varying strategies for handling unknown vocabulary - Differ in their use of strategies - Know if their strategy use was effective or not '''Using purposeful reading to develop strategic L2 readers ' The key elements fostering comprehension in reading include, in addition to the skillful use of comprehension strategies, strong word recognition skills and the ability to integrate background knowledge. The following are some practical ways in which strategies, world knowledge, and vocabulary skills can be integrated into L2 reading instruction: 1. Integrate purpose into the overall curriculum design 2. Begin each lesson with a purpose 3. Teach students to regulate their strategies for achieving specific purposes 4. Help students access their world knowledge 5. Build students’ vocabulary recognition through multiple exposures ' ' ' ' ' ' Finding a path to fluent academic and workplace reading ' Texts written for native English speakers – not graded readers with glossaries or simplified newspapers with pictures, but college texts, business memos, formal and legal documents – provide new challenges. To become fluent readers, students need practice, stamina, training, skills, and endurance – things like extensive reading, automaticity, specialized vocabulary, meta-cognitive strategies, comprehension monitoring, and background building. Those who learn to communicate and to read without constant, simultaneous translation are well on the way to becoming fluent in the L2. Fast, efficient, flexible, strategic reading will not result from the decoding, grammatical analysis, and translation of difficult texts (Day and Bamford 1998; Waring and Takahashi 2000). '''Barriers to achieving fluent L2 reading ' 1. Language use, cultural identity, and translation 2. Language use, cultural identity, and translation 3. Sentence pattern processing and automaticity 4. Level, amount, and appropriateness of materials 5. L1 environment vs. L2 environment '''How to build reading fluency 1. Begin at the beginning – with your own reading 2. Find plenty of appropriate materials 3. Provide continuous motivation 4. Vocabulary Types of vocabulary study a)'' Bottom-up strategy training '' '' b) Reading at level to develop automaticity '' '' c) Collocation study '' '' d) Narrow vs. wide reading '' 5. Grammar knowledge 6. Meta-cognitive strategy training Critical elements in a fluent reading program: ''' '' Time':'' learners must make daily, weekly, monthly time commitments and adhere to them throughout the program '' '' Motivation:' ''The motivation for a fluent reading program must be nurtured, modeled, and reinforced by the teacher, but the motivation must come from within the student. '' Metacognitive awareness': ''Teachers must promote an increased understanding of the nature of reading, the processes of reading, the most effective strategies for reading, and the cultural and rhetorical patterns of texts in the L2. ''' Appropriate materials': ''Collect, beg, borrow, download, buy materials in the target language – graded readers, textbooks at all levels (elementary to college), technical texts at all levels, newspapers, magazines, internet articles and anything else that is relevant to the students’ special fields and at a wide range of reading difficulty. ''' Four pronged vocabulary study': ''Whether simultaneous or serial, different types of vocabulary study will deepen and widen the learner’s word recognition skills and automaticity. ''' Willingness to change':'' Both teachers and students will need flexibility, open minds, and cultural awareness. Teachers must be willing to use new methods of teaching; learners must be willing to learn new ways of reading. ''' Confidence in the program': ''Flexibility, motivation, and the ultimate success of the program depend on both the teachers’ and the students belief that it will work! ''' Read:' ''Model reading for the students. '''Teaching reading: Individual and social perspectives ' Academic work on reading in the English speaking world of today may be divided into two perspectives, the “narrow” and the “broad.” The narrow perspective focuses upon the abilities of individuals, and generates research work into initial reading, and reading as comprehension, in both first and additional languages. 'Reading: The narrow perspective ' The narrow psycholinguistically-oriented research perspective into reading has been interested not only in establishing the components necessary for reading, but also with attempts to model the reading process by specifying the relations between components. 'Component approaches ' The proponents of simple two-component models of reading put forward what may be roughly characterized as a reading component, and language component. In short, their intuitively appealing claim is that in order to understand a written text, the two necessary components are the ability to read, and competence in the language of the text. 1. Language competence in reading '' A number of studies have looked at language in terms of syntax and lexis, and examined how they contribute separately to the construction of meaning in reading. 2. Syntax in reading'' Schlesinger (1968) concluded after a series of experiments that, for L1 readers, syntax did not significantly affect the reading process. In L2 studies of syntax in reading, there is universal acceptance of the view that adequate competence in L2 syntax is necessary. 3. Vocabulary '' Much research with L1 English primary schoolchildren provides support for the relationship between lexical development and reading ability. In addition, research into L2 reading has highlighted the crucial importance of vocabulary (see Grabe; Field this volume), while surveys among L2 learners invariably reveal vocabulary to be an important concern for L2 readers. ''4. Background knowledge '' The effects of prior knowledge have been frequently demonstrated in both L1 reading (Anderson et al. 1977), and L2 reading, where Steffensen and Joag Dev (1984) have demonstrated the importance of “general” or “cultural knowledge, while Alderson and Urquhart (1988) have done so for academic knowledge. ''5. “Reading ability” in L2 reading '' There is general agreement that language proficiency is important for reading, there has been a great deal of debate about the relative contributions to L2 reading of, on the one hand, reading ability, as manifested in L1 reading, and on the other, general proficiency in the L2. Some have argued that L2 reading depends crucially on L1 reading, that “reading is only learned once” and that poor L2 reading is in part due to poor L1 reading skills or failure to transfer such skills. ''6. ''Reading for language learning '' While adequate language proficiency is important for “successful” reading, much language pedagogy has focused on reading as an important way of improving language proficiency, through intensive classroom reading, and also through extensive reading .“The best way to improve your knowledge of a foreign language is to go and live amongst its speakers. The next best way is to read extensively in it” maintains Nuttall. 7. ''Reading skills '' It has been suggested that a skill be regarded as an acquired ability, which has been automatised, and operates subconsciously, whereas a strategy is a conscious procedure carried out in order to solve a perceived problem. Process models of reading: a) ''Data-driven models “bottom-up” ''b) ''Concept-driven models “top-down” ''c) ''Interactive models'' d) ''Reinstating the bottom'' 'Reading: The broad perspective ' Reading in the broad perspective, is, as previously mentioned, concerned not with the psycholinguistic process of reading, nor with how well the reader comprehends, but rather with literacy as social practice, in other words social patterns of activities involving reading (and writing), as well as the social values attaching to these activities. An important distinction in the broad approach is between the “autonomous literacy” model and the “ideological literacy” model (Street 1984). The autonomous model sees literacy as a value-neutral set of skills, detached from social context, the possession of which is assumed to bring certain cognitive and social results. Much of what has been described above as the “narrow” approach to literacy is in the “autonomous” tradition. Reference: ''Current. (2006). Trends in the Development and Teaching of the Four Language Skills (261-380) ''